Four-day crackdown targeted prostitution and human trafficking

Nearly 100 people were entangled in Florida's latest undercover sex sting, including a former Orlando police officer.

The former Orlando Police Department officer, Michael Johnson, tried to recruit a female undercover officer to engage in prostitution with clients he would find for her, detectives said.

In return, Johnson, 44, wanted 25 percent of the proceeds. He even tried to negotiate a lower percentage if the woman, who he thought was a prostitute, agreed to have sex with him, Polk County officials said.

Johnson was hired at the Orlando Police Department in 1994 but resigned less than two years later. Records explaining why he resigned were not available Tuesday.

Detectives in Polk County arrested Johnson and 97 others in a four-day crackdown targeting prostitution and human trafficking dubbed Operation When Will You Learn, the Polk County Sheriff's Office announced this morning.

The investigation — executed over the Memorial Day weekend — zeroed in on websites with prostitution advertisements.

The suspects include 28 alleged prostitutes including a 15-year-old girl, 52 suspected "johns" and 16 pimps. Deputies revealed little information about the girl in order to protect the identity of a victim of human trafficking.

Of the people identified as prostitutes and pimps, all but nine had extensive criminal records, deputies said.

They face a range of charges, including offering to commit lewdness, deriving proceeds from prostitution, possessing illegal drugs; child abuse by neglect and probation violations.

"Human trafficking is a serious problem in the Central Florida area. We have found that one of our best tools to find, arrest, and prosecute traffickers is to conduct undercover prostitution investigations," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "Prostitution is not a victimless crime."